Improvement in pile-drivers



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. F. ROEHRS & J. KOHLER.

PILE-DRIVERS.

No.175,169. Patented March 21,1876.

i ZSheets-Sheenz. H. F. ROEHRS & J. KHLER.

PILE-DRIVERS.

No. 175,169. Patented March. 21,1876.

4 umm-"m N. PETERS.. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

IUErrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY F. ROEHRS AND JOSEPH KHLER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TOTHEMSELVES AND F. W. ALMS, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PILE-DRlVERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 175,1 69, dated March2l, 1876; application filed- February 2, 1876.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that we, HENRY F. RoEHas andJosErH KoHLEE, of Uincinnati,]5[an1il ton county, State of Ohio, haveinvented an Improvement in Pile-Drivers, of which the following is aspecication:

Our invention has for its object the con-l struction of a pile-driverwhich shall perform its work effectively and expeditiously and requirebut little manual labor to aid in its operation. To this end, ourimprovement consists, first, of a certain arrangement and connectionwith the driving-enginel of cross and straight driving-belts, suitablyshifted by hand or automatically, to respectivelyr drop thefollower-head and raise the hammer without requiring the reversing ofthe engine, the whole acting through the agency ot' a driving-worm,operating upon a drum continuously, withoutloss of time, and with butlittle attention; second, in apair of clamps, which, as the spring-hooksof the follower-head either clasp or release the bail of the hammer,clamp an extended endless cable, and move it sufficiently, in connectionwith spring-balanced lever, to reverse' the motion of said followerheadby shifting the driving-belts, the whole being automatic in action;third, in the-con nection with said automatic'shifting devices ofprojections suitably situated to trip thefollower-head clamps or hooksat any desired point .in the path .of the drop and release the hammer;fourth, in the connection with said automatic shifting devices of springtripping-levers, provided with a hand-rope, whereby the hammer may bedropped or tripped at any point in the length of its drop; fth, in anextended shifting cable,

forming part of the automatic belt-shifter, andso constructed that 'oneportion of it'cannot, by reason of its small diameter, be clasped by theclamps. This feature, as hereinafter fully explained, is for the purposeof preventing the accidental shifting of the belts before thespring-hooks of the follower-head have completed their proper function.

Figure l isa perspective view of a pile-driver embodying our invention.Fig. 2 is an elevation of the driving-belts. Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of the follower-head of the drop. Fig.

4 is also a view of the follower-head, taken from different point ofsight. Fig. 5 is au elevation, showing a non-operative blank in theextent of the shifting cable. Fig. 6 is an elevation showing springshifting-lever, drivingworm, and belts.

A is the hammer, fitted to slide between ways a al, and is detachablysecured to a follower-head, B, which is hung and operated by cable c,running over idler a2, at the top of the Ways a al, and secured to drumC. The shaft of the drum C is provided ,with I,a wormwheel, c', whichgears with a driving-worm, D. The worm D is secured to a common shaft,with the driving-pulleys E E', upon which also revolve the loose pulleysF F'. G is the driving-shaft of the engine which supports the concdriving-pulley H, which pulley connects with pulleys upon worm-shal'tbybelts h It'. I is a belt-shifting rod, which shifts both belts h hsimultaneously, and whose outer end is attached to one end of a lever,J, pivoted upon a shaft, j. Secured to the other end of lever J is aspring, j', which extends past both the end of shaft j and connection of`rod I to the lever, and connects at a point in line with the positionof lever J when at its central point of throw. Now, it is evident fromthe drawing that if the lever J is tilted, either one-or the other way,beyond this central point of throw, the spring j' will act to draw it tothe limit of throw, and thus shift completely the belts h h.

Secured upon shaftj is afast pulley, K, and around said pulley issecured an endless cable, 7c, which is extended by a second pulley, K',at the top of ways a al. The operation of this cable, so as to move thelever J from its central point of throw, is necessary to produce anautomatic belt-shifter, and this is produced as follows: Thefollower-head B is provided with catch-hooks b b, which clasp the baila3 of hammer A from opposite .sides through the agency ofcompressing-spring L And the said spring L also serves simultaneously toextend or spread apart a pair of clamps, M. Now, the cable k is sosituatedfwith respect to the path traveled by follower B that the clampsM in their extended position encircle the said cable loosely, and onlyclamp it tightly when the hooks b b are separated in the act of trippingor taking up the hammer A, and by reason of the fact that thefollower-head B trips and takes up the hammer A while in ulotion, theclamps M cramp and move the cable lc sufficiently to carry the lever Jbeyond its central point of throw, and thus cause the spring 7" tocomplete the act of shifting the belts. When the belts h h are shiftedit is obvious that the motion of follower-head B will be reversed, andif the hammer A has just been released in the act of striking a blow,the follower-head B, which was raising the hammer, will, as aforesaid,immediately reverse its motion and descend, by reason of the use of thelargest section of' cone driving-pulley H, at greater speed than itrose, to again attach to the hammer A; and, as before, in the act ofdetaching the hammer, so now in the act of attaching the hammer, theclamps M will move the cableu lc, which, in connection with spring j',will shift belts h h' and reverse the motion ot' follower-head B, so asto raise the hammer preparatory to again dropping it. The follower-headwill attach itself to the hammer when descending; but to trip its holdwhen rising, I provide tripping-blocks N, so situated as to oppose theprogress of and trip the hooks b b at any fixed point. Now, it may bedesirable to at times control the point of tripping so as to drop thehammer from various heights, and, therefore, we provide thetripping-levers 0 0, suitably sprung away from contact with the hooks bb until forced against them by the operator drawing upon cord P. And itwill be seen that by this means the height of the drop can be entirelyregulated by the operator Without interfering with the continuousoperation of the machine. To provide for an instantaneous movement ofthe cable k, and to more exactly delne the point at which the clamps Mshall grasp said cable, we provide in the cable a blank, m, ot' smallerdiameter than can be grasped by the clamps M, so that the said clampscannot act until they have closed their fullest extent, and the hooks bb have opened sufficiently to receive or release the bail a3 of hammerA; when the clamps will strike the ordinary size of the cable, and themotion of the follower-head will instantly be reversed, as is proper anddesirable. The oh- ]'ect ofthe blank or blanks in the cable k is toprevent the accidental movement ofthe cable, and consequent shifting ofbelts, from anticipating the complete action of the hooks b b. Theincreased size of the section of cone-pulley H, which, suitablyattached, lowers the follower-head, also provides t'or an increase ofspeed in lowering, which is desirable as economizing time when no greatpower is acquired; and it is obvious that the ordinary drivingwheel maybe used, it' desired.

Having thus described our invention, we claim- 1. As applied to apile-driving machine, the combination of driving-pulley H, cros's andstraight driving-belts suitably shifted, either automatically or byhand, driving-pulleys E E', idlers F F', driving-worm D, drum C, lifting-cable, and follower-head B, the whole operating substantially as andfor the purpose specified.

2. In a pile-driving machine, the automatic belt-shifter, composed ofrod I, tilting-leverJ on shaft j, an operating-spring, j',operatingchain lc suitably extended from shaft j, and clamps M, actingin concert with hooks b b, and upon chain k by any preferred trippingdevices, the whole operating substantially as and for the purposespecified.

3. In combination with the automatic beltshifter, the tripping-blocks N,situated and operating substantially as specified.

4. In combination with the automatic beltshifter, the springtripping-levers 0 O, providto set our hands.

HENRY F. ROEHRS. JOSEPH KOHLER. Witnesses:

J oHN E. J oNEs, EDGAR J. Gaoss.

